Our consumer advocate buddy Chris Elliott, who’s column appears in the Sacramento Bee Travel Section each Sunday, is making a cross country journey by car with his three children. In a different sort of report from Chris, we ask about the challenges of a family vacation, and ask Chris and the kids for tips to make you a smarter traveler when traveling with your family.

Gwen Duncan tells us the Napa Valley is one of the hottest vacation destinations on the planet. Prices for accommodations and wine tasting are particularly on the rise. Gwen tells us how to best avoid high prices and heavy traffic by timing your visit right.

Mark has the Travel News, featuring stories about self-driving buses in one Chinese city, and how two NFL players handled their circumstances when the flight taking them to an important practice was cancelled. Can you say “I need a ride on social media?”